Need Help Identifying Age of Home

[56merc]

I've been doing some research trying to pinpoint the approximate age of my home. I would consider it a 1.5 story bungalow. The chain of ownership information that i'm finding through the court house seems to date it older than when bungalows came into fashion. Here are some things that may help date the home.
- field stone foundation with stone faced block on top
- brick insulation on exterior walls
- plumbing cast iron house trap
What other information would help date my home?

[TexasRed]

Although I'm no help on identifying your house's style or age, I think it is a very attractive home. What year does your research lead you to? That's a starting point...

Often the interior details will give more clues to its age. Of course that depends on how much original trim, windows, doors, hardware etc. the house still retains. If you can post more pictures of interior features, I'm sure some of the experts here can shed more light on your house. (We just love pictures ).

Another avenue could be through Sanborn Fire Insurance maps. I have found most of the early years for our town (1896-1922) online. I had to collect them from multiple sources. The Library of Congress has many cities available. Then I found missing years on the state website, and yet more through prominent state colleges.

BTW, welcome to The District

Look forward to seeing and hearing more about your home.

P.S. I really like the window awning! I hope you are planning to keep it.

[1918ColonialRevival]

The house in the picture looks similar to several others I have seen in plan books from the mid to late 19-oughts through the late 1910s.

Researching previous ownership on a lot can be a little confusing because it doesn't always indicate when a house was built on the lot. If the records you've found go back before about 1905, I'd be inclined to believe that the house either hadn't been built yet, or that there may have been another house on this site that yours replaced. Or, it's also possible that it's an older house that saw serious renovations in the 1905-1920 era.

Go into the basement and look at the floor joists above. If they are rough and look like they were hand-planed, the original structure of the house is probably from the 19th century. Also look at any nails that are visible in the structure. The modern wire nail that we know today came into being in the 1880s. If it's earlier, it will have nails with heads that look rectangular instead of round, though that's not always an indicator of an older house. It's possible that the builder could have used nails they had laying around. The reason I say this is because I have found some late 19th century nails that were used in the construction of my house (1918). The only thing I can guess is that someone dragged out an older keg of nails from somewhere, especially since the house is wartime construction.

[56merc]

Thanks for the replies and yes, we love the awning and it is staying. Probably going to try and find or make a matching one for the back.

It has definitely been confusing as the deeds on the plat go back to the original formation of the town in 1858.
The floor joists are hand planed in the basement. Also, while opening up a section of the wall in the upstairs bathroom the wall studs are also rough cut and hand planed.

[Don M]

You have an attractive home, sometimes the building dates don't match the true age of the house because records were lost or destroyed. Usually the house is older than the recorded age, not like yours seems to be. I would guess that your home probably was built as you see it today. The suggestions above may be correct as reason for recorded age difference. Where are you located?

[Powermuffin]

Looks a lot like my home (1908). Mine has the porch enclosed. We looked a two things: the water board gave us the date that the water was turned on (1908), and the library had address books from the turn of the century on, so we could see address books where our address was not shown and then later books where it was. Those two things gave us the date.

Our house is laid out with the setting room and dining room on the left, and two bedrooms and a bath on the right. Kitchen was at the back of the house. What is your layout like?

Our window configurations is like yours as well.

[phil]

it might be possible that the dormer is added and the attic wasn't used as living space originally.
check with the city to se ewhat they have and you might also check with the power company to see if they have old records that might show a hookup.
another clue might be the wiring and plumbing. If the plumbing stack is inside the house and maybe behind plaster walls then that might be a sign it's original or if the toilet stack is on the outside maybe it was added? if it never had a bathroom te bathroom might be an old bedroom or something and unusually large considering the floor space.or may adjoin weird shaped rooms that they have taken space from.

you can also take note if the wiring seems to be run behind plaster walls in such fashion that you;d expect if the house were wired before the plaster walls were done. If it's added then you'd see signs that they may have worked the wiring in after it was built. for example you might see the wires runing to the basement as they travel from one outlet together but if it were wired before plaster they would just run through the wall. You might check for labels and things in the panel box, never know you might find a date.

mine is 1924 I'd guess near then but Its just a guess and by no means accurate.

you might check with neighbors especially if there are similar looking houses, maybe they same builder was used. I think comparing the doors might be worthwhile as they changed with the style and age. maybe post pictures of interior doors to see what others think?

[Nicholas]

Since reading Phil and Powermuffin's replies I took another look at a couple of things. I can't say anything about the age, as I am having a tough time dating mine (possibly 1916 or early 20's).

I tend to agree with Phil about the dormer, it looks more like a 1930's add on, and if that is where the upstairs bathroom is, then that is when it may have been added. I also notice the smaller window on that right side picture, or left side of house, is that the downstairs bath I am guessing? If so, then your house is also the same possible layout as mine, (which is opposite yours and Powermuffin), From the front view your door is offset to the left, mine to the right, and my bathroom on the left.

I just found out my house always had a "bath" room, with a clawfoot tub, now replaced, but no toilet. The stack is on the outside for that room, possibly added with toilet in the 40's but the kitchen stack is inside the hipped roof of that part of the house.

Then I noticed the porch. While mine and Powermuffin's originally was the entire width before the closures, and both start with a hipped roof, yours isn't, and I notice the lower ceiling, with one side of the porch cutting into the window frame.

Except! You have the hint of a hipped roof above the porch.

I am thinking that the porch and dormer were both added / re- done as the attic was expanded, and would, if I am correct about the timeline, had the Craftsmen style porch columns placed as was the style. What is the lower floor to ceiling height? Mine are 9.5 feet, not much room for attic anything with out a dormer.

Just a theory, good luck.

[phil]

if the foundation of the porch is different then that would hint of an addition.
also just something to note, if you have a cement floor in the basement then does the floor match the walls? i noticed my floor is much smoother than my foundation walls and im wondering if maybe mine was dirt or rough concrete that was skim coated as it's nice and has no big rocks in it like the foundation.
another thing to compare is the chimney if it is still there. I find if I notice the way the top of the chimney is shaped it seemed to change with age. the older ones seemed more contoured near the top, and later ones were straighter.. Im not sure if there is a reason for the shape or if it's just style or the way they builder liked to do them but I could see a situation whee maybe there were only so many chimney builders and maybe the same mason covered most of the builds for a certain area. In some cases it might have been done by the carpenters that built it but maybe its one thing they would contract out. I find I can pick out the old houses this way despite renos like vinyl siding. sometimes they go so far with the renos it gets hard to pick the newer repro houses from the originals if they cover them in plastic but the chimney usually still sticks out like a flag.

[Kashka-Kat]

Interesting thread- I was going to say there are certain strong similarities to my house which is 1906 and also a 1 1/2 story with very similar window, door, & porch placement and similar dormers (is there one on both sides?)

Then I notice that a lot of y'all have said something very similar & have houses of the same era!

I would say its "bungaloid" but not as low and horizontal-looking and craftsman-y as some specimens you see. Oftentimes houses dont adhere strictly to any one style but can have a charm of their own even if not a pure-bred! Mine kinda has some craftsman bungaloid touches, but a very classic four-square floor plan - plus made of concrete block which was in fashion only 10 or 15 yrs. They took all the fashions of the day and combined them into a kinda nice house!